


Couples Counseling

by BuggyNess



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Winry being a BAMF, everyone's afraid of Izumi, horny Ed, speck of domestic violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-06
Updated: 2015-03-30
Packaged: 2018-02-28 09:32:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2727386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BuggyNess/pseuds/BuggyNess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You've always said, A man has to sleep sometime. Remember THAT if a man ever strikes you."  Post Brotherhood. EdxWin enlist Ed and Al's Teacher to help them learn to live together peacefully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. For Better or Worse

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know why I'm going here and writing on Ed and Winry having marriage troubles and topic of domestic violence. It came as a brief thought that crossed my mind and bugged me for a while. Both Edward and Winry are such volatile people that only bring out the best AND the worst in each other. I couldn't help thinking, what if Ed didn't hold back? What if in an instant, he lost control and made a terrible mistake? I do not condone violence as an answer at all in a marriage or any type of relationship. I only know that humans are capable of bad things-even good humans like Ed and Winry. This story is just an exploration of this and how these two came to terms with it, eventually enlisting the help of Ed and Al's Teacher.

This very moment, Winry questioned her sanity for marrying Edward Elric. Burning hot rage coursed through her veins making it impossible to restrain herself from cocking her arm back and flinging the heavy wrench. The steel tool soared through the kitchen and struck her husband squarely between the eyes, sending his head backwards.

Clunk!

Ed recovered from the blow as the wrench hit the wooden floor. His yellow eyes narrowed and he transversed the short distance to his enraged wife in a split second.

Pinako Rockbell sighed. It seemed the lovers quarreled as much after marriage as they did as children. This particular spat happened because Ed was leaving again for week long trip to South headquarters for research and he had just arrived from a previous trip two days prior. She filled her pipe with tobacco and motioned to Den to follow her on the porch and let the two hotheads work this out alone. The old lady hoped they'd make up with as much passion as they fought and fill her house with great grandchildren soon. Perhaps that would calm them down, but she doubted it.

"Oi!" Ed hovered only a few inches from his wife. He motioned to the red spot between his eyes from the wrench. "Do you keep these things on you at all times?"

"That's for me to know!" She huffed. "Just HOW can you leave so soon?"

"Winry!" Edward tried to contain his anger. "We talked about this. Until Alphonse returns, I'm running information reconnaissance, and until there's a magical way of getting information  _instantly_ , I have to physically go to the library there and research. I don't like it either! But Al's on to something, something that may help restore our chimera friends and I need to look at some documents down there I never thought to view before."

"I don't care!" She screamed, knowing she sounded like a child.

"What?"

"You heard me! I. Don't. Care."

"Are you insane?" He couldn't restrain his anger any longer and let it flow like a foul river full of expletives rushing from his lips. This didn't phase Winry one bit. "This is what I do! Al and I have to amass this knowledge to save people harmed by alchemy!"

"That stuff will still be there even if you leave in a week instead of a day. I don't understand why you are so intent on leaving just as soon as you arrived. You seem determined on leaving ME!"

"Now you're just being stupid."

Smack!

Edward palmed his red cheek where her small but strong hand struck him. He eyed her face as she stood there stoic and strong in her own resolve to face him and to defy his wish to leave.

"Stupid woman!" He came closer. "You can't just start flailing wrenches or your little hands at me every time you can't win an argument!" He knew this would enrage her but he didn't care. Something within Edward pushed him to strike his wife with his words, make her hurt just as physical as any punch. Winry growled, proving her husband correct, and launched herself at him.

Edward Elric had his ass kicked a hundred times or so as a teenager and as a young man. Most of the "kickers-of-his-ass" were bad guys, homunculi, rogue alchemists and a few times, his little brother in armor. Twice, his ass was clobbered by a little girl. When they were nine, he teased Winry for something or the other-he had forgotten why. She launched herself on him and pummeled his face until he got a black eye and Al had to separate them. Another time, when they were ten, he remembered telling her she was too flat-chested because she carried automail around and that he was sure, somewhere out there, someone like flat-chested women, but he never would. Ed's scrotum curled up every time he thought about THAT fight because that is exactly where Winry's knee hit him. Now, as his wife's hands came in contact with his face in a barrage of smacks and attempts to punch, the former alchemist made a conscious effort to keep his "tenders" out of the reach of her knees. However, his own anger steamed past the boiling point.

Something was about to give. Something had to end this madness!

"Winry! Stop this RIGHT NOW!"

SLAP!

Somewhere in Resembool the birds tweeted and the breeze blew curtains dreamily to and fro over a windowsill laden with cooling apple pies. A housewife pulled a roast out of the oven and the family gathered, drawn in by the alluring smell. Somewhere kids poked their bare feet in the cool river right before taking a jump and submerging their bodies to ward off the early summer heat. However, right here, right now, a gloomy cloud fell over the Rockbell-Elric house but the temporary shade couldn't conceal the fact that Edward Elric struck his wife.

"Win?" He jumped back in awe of himself. His anger now hung just as a fleeting sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as Edward's wide eyes took in the sight of her, the love of his life holding her face. "I'm, I'm so sorry…" He moved to comfort her and she leapt from his grasp, turning away and leaning on the kitchen counter.

"Get out." She muttered so softly, he almost didn't hear.

"Winry." He came close enough to see her hands clenching on the counter, her right one marred with a drop of blood from her busted lip.

"Edward. I said. Leave."

He panicked. Never, ever, thinking himself capable of losing it in front of Winry, he bolted. Edward ran from the kitchen and only stopped to catch his breath on the front porch. Granny sat puffing away on her pipe, oblivious to what just happened. Den sat obediently by her side, wagging her tail.

"She kick you out short stuff?"

"Granny…" He knew Pinako wouldn't be a gentle as Winry. "I'm sorry. Please tell her I'm sorry." Ed left her stumped and confused by his parting comment. He knew she'd figure it out soon enough and he'd never be welcome back. So, he ran. His strong legs carried him past the gate and down the dirt road rimmed by the strong stone wall. Ed didn't really know where he was running but knew that he had to leave this place, he had to figure out how to fix this.

"How to fix this?" He muttered. How to fix his marriage? Was it really this bad? Had a lifetime already spent with each other sullied their future? Could two people with equally strong tempers survive each other? He didn't know.

"What'll it be, Elric?"

Ed looked up into the face of the bartender at Resembool's only watering hole, how he wound up here, he didn't know.

"Um, don't really care, Merv, just something." He plopped down on the bar stool as a small glass of brown liquor was placed before him. Edward took a drink to be the first of many that night.

* * *

 

Knock! Knock! Knock!

Hard thumping on the front door in the middle of the night woke the old woman from her sound sleep. Den started barking so loud, Pinako was sure she'd wake the dead.

"Winry?" She tied her bathrobe around her waist and turned the knob on her granddaughter's bedroom door. The old lady didn't know what happened between Winry and Ed, the girl wouldn't say, she just marched upstairs and shut herself up in her room. "There's someone knocking on the door, come with me." In her younger days, the Panthress wouldn't be scared of strangers at the door in the middle of the night, but now elderly, she wasn't taking any chances. Not that a skinny mechanic and an old dog would do any good, but at least it may even their odds a bit. "How'd you bust your lip?" She saw the telltale puffiness on Winry's lower lip which raised the short hairs on the back of her neck. Pinako couldn't help but wonder if this had anything to do with her grandson-in-law.

"I bit it when I was mad at Ed last night." She rubbed her eyes and followed her grandma and dog down to the front door. At least, that WAS a plausible answer, it COULD have happened that way. Only, it didn't.

"Really." The old lady raised her eyebrow at that remark. She'd have to interrogate the girl further, but right now, the door.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Who is it?" She steadied her small hand on the knob and lock, waiting for an answer.

"Doctor Rockbell! Need your help here! It's Merv from the saloon."

"Merv?" She knew the name of the purveyor of Resembool's only spirits and beer house. Unfortunately, Pinako knew it all too well. "Come in." She opened the door.

Not since THAT night so long ago had the two Rockbell women seen such a pitiful sight in this doorway. Edward hung to Merv like a limp dishrag and his face was a bloody mess.

"Edward?" Winry ran to his side and scooped up his right shoulder, wrapping it around her neck as she tried to take some of her husband's weight off the bartender. Ed was too heavy for her to manage on her own, so Merv followed her into the house and deposited the former alchemist on the long, leather bench in the sitting room.

"What happened?" Pinako ran her hand under her chin as her granddaughter tended to Ed's wounds.

"He had too much to drink and started a fight…well, he started a few fights." He slowly retreated out of the doorway. "I should have called you. I'm sorry."

"No, thank you for bringing him home safely." Pinako smiled as she ushered the barkeep outside and shut the door behind him. She then regarded Winry.

"Pew, you stink, Ed." Winry pinched her nose. "Is that bourbon?"

"He reeks of it…among other things." Granny winced at the stiff aroma wafting off of the young man. "We've got to clean him off. Help me walk him over to the back door."

"Granny?" Winry had an idea where her grandmother was going with this, but didn't think she was serious. "The outside faucet?"

"Unless you want to drag him upstairs to the bathroom?"

"God no." She smiled for a minute. Then hoisted the majority of her husband's weight on her shoulders as Pinako took his other side. "C'mon you big idiot, let's walk."

"Notta night?" Edward muttered.

"No, right now. One foot in front of the other. One. Two. One. Two." Winry tried to guide them toward the back door.

"Kinda sick." Ed leered to one side and then vomited on Winry's feet. "Yuck." He grinned at his handiwork.

"Good job, hotshot." Granny chuckled and Winry's left eye twitched with anger as she sloshed in puke-soaked slippers to the door and opened it.

They managed to get Edward outside and leaned him against the back wall of the house while Winry hooked up the bucket to the garden hose and hung it up on the high rung of the pole. Ed used this make-shift shower to clean off after he and Alphonse fought each other and now it seemed a great solution to rinse the muck off the former alchemist instead of slinging it throughout the house.

"Lean him up, you'll probably have to get wet." Granny motioned to Winry to hold Ed around his waist as the old woman twisted the ancient iron fittings of the faucet and water poured into the old metal bucket, then showering out of the nail holes in the bottom.

"Cold!" Ed squealed as the water hit his face. It shook Winry as well when the icy water started to soak through her night clothes.

"Wake up, moron." She groaned trying to keep her husband upright as the cold garden hose water poured down on both of them, washing away the muck and mire Ed managed to get all over himself. Winry shook off her puke covered house slippers, hoping the water would rinse some of the yuck off of them as well.

"I think that'll do it. Hang on, I'll get you some towels." After turning off the faucet, Pinako retreated quickly, and quite spryly for a lady of her advanced age, into the house leaving Winry struggling to hold up her husband from behind.

"Hurry. He's heavy…for a little guy." She didn't care if he heard that last part.

"Hey!" Ed struggled in her arms. "Notso small anymore!"

"No, you're not small anymore." She mocked him. "But just as big of a dumb-ass."

"Win?' He turned to face his wife, his wet clothing letting him swirl around while she still held him tightly around his waist. "I'm so sorry…" He touched her swollen lip as gently as he could.

"Yeah, yeah." She looked away.

"No. Ima big oaf. Don't deserve to be happy." He let his wet head fall on her shoulders and started to press all his weight down making it harder for her to hold him upright.

"Ed! You of all people deserve happiness! Don't lean on me, you'll make me fall!"

"Sorry." He started carrying more of his own weight. "Cold."

"Yeah, Gran's bringing towels. You're gonna have to get your wet clothes off, can you do that?"

"Dunno."

"You better, or Granny's gonna have to help and she'll see you naked." Her puffy lip curled in a half smile.

"Micro Granny's not seeing MY junk…" Ed started to squirm in her arms as he struggled to unbutton his black shirt. Winry assisted with fingers trembling from the cold water. With great luck and effort, the former alchemist had stripped down to his boxers just in time for the old woman to show up holding a tower of fluffy towels.

"Here!" She shoved a towel in Edward's face and he wrapped it around his waist, then leaned on the side of the house while his wife got out of her wet clothes and into a few towels. "Now march!" Pinako ordered both her wards into the house, Winry still supporting Edward as they entered the structure.

"Think you can make the stairs?" The mechanic raised her eyebrow at her husband as they both faced the mountain of steps leading to the second floor.

"Yeah, just wanna get in bed." He groaned, but made each step without causing them to fall down.

"Just a few more…" She pulled him toward their bedroom and ushered him inside. Seeing their bed renewed Ed's strength and he made a last valiant push toward it and fell face down, out cold. "…feet." Winry finished her sentence.

"He's going to feel horrible tomorrow." Pinako smirked. She carried a large glass pitcher of water and a cup as she made her way over to the bed. "He'll need this to stave off the dehydration." The old woman quickly poured a glass and set both down on the bedside table.

"Yeah, and serves him right." Winry felt her lip. "I'll get the trash basin from the bathroom in case he vomits some more." She quickly left the room and returned with the small trashcan.

"Winry?"

"Yeah, Granny?" She pulled Ed as best she could into correct position in the bed and covered him up, all the while trying not to lose the towel wrapped around her body.

"Does his drunkenness have more to do with your busted lip?"

"Huh?" Winry thought,  _"Damn, that old woman is wise."_

"C'mon, girl. I've lived a long life and picked up a few things here and there about human nature. Did that bag of vomit smack you?" She went over to the dresser, pulled open the top drawer and picked out a nightshirt then handed it to her granddaughter. The girl before her stood gaping in awe.

"I can't say that I blame him. I hit HIM all the time…" Winry's voice died down to a whisper.

"What have I always told you, girl?" Pinako stood as Winry pulled the nightshirt over her towel and then let the towel drop to the floor as she walked over to another dresser to retrieve some clean underpants.

"You've always said,  _A man has to sleep sometime, and remember THAT if a man ever strikes you._ " She finished putting on her underwear and turned to face her grandmother. "Well, here HE is. He's sleeping. What should I do to him?" Her voice carried condescension.

"That's your burden, child." She frowned and turned to leave. "But one thing's for sure," Pinako stood at the door frame and took hold of the handle. "I think there should be a whole lot less  _hitting_  in THIS house." She closed the door, leaving Winry to sulk at her unconscious husband.

"Ed." She sat next to him and untied his messed up ponytail, her fingers deftly working some of the knots out of his damp hair as best she could. "I think we're going to have a REAL talk when you are able."

Winry wondered yet, at the same time, HOPED they would be able to figure this out. This, the first of their trials as a married couple. She remembered part of her vows,  _for better or for worse_  and hoped that it would soon be for the better.

 


	2. Mealtime Discussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7/22/14 A/N: I lost a good deal of this chapter when the power supply/power plug in went bad in my old netbook and I could no longer charge it. But, I resurrected it and hope to finish what I started with this story. No more beatings, just good ol' Ed and Winry marriage squabble goodness.

The young man studied the ancient tapestry intent on unraveling not its silk, but the secret message of alkahestry woven deep within the threads seven hundred years ago. He raised his large magnifying glass to study the Xingese runes carefully – sigils and marks he now understood thanks to May Chang's vigilant tutelage. The curator of this particular collection of antiquities assured the boy this was the oldest piece in the. collection, and the first to show the Sage of from the West. The magnifying glass stopped over the stern and godlike countenance of the Sage – his dad.

"I miss you." Alphonse smiled as he ran his finger over the golden face of Hohenheim now immortalized in silk - knowing the curator would fuss if he saw him touching the ancient piece of art. "I wish we had more time together to study your alchemy, Dad." Quick footsteps interrupted his nostalgic thoughts and he jerked his hand back to his side quickly.

"Mr. Elric! Mr. Elric!" The curator's assistant shouted with his thick Xingese accent.

"Yes?" He turned to see the man panting, he evidently ran all the way from his office a good deal away from this part of the palace.

"The Emperor..." He breathed. "His Majesty requests your presence...in the throne room."

"OK...tell Ling I'll be there as soon as I finish..."

"No!" He couldn't believe the audacity of this foreigner. Making the Emperor of Xing wait could result in your beheading. "It is urgent you come now."

"Oh..." Al really didn't want to leave his studies. The last time he was summoned by Ling this way, it was because the Emperor was just bored and wanted his company. "Show me how to get there from here...I still can't figure out this place." He followed the little man through passageways and corridors until at long last they stood in front of the enormous gilded doors that led to the throne room. The man struggled to open the doors then bowed and bid Al enter. The young alchemist strolled down the long room toward a figure sprawled out on the golden throne. "Hey, Lan Fan, how are you today?" He chuckled because even though the warrior could not be seen, he knew she was there, protecting her Emperor.

"I'm fine, thank you." As if she materialized from thin air, the woman with the automail arm appeared to his left and joined him as they moved toward the Emperor.

"Oh, it took you long enough...did you get lost again?" Ling sat up and smiled as the two approached.

"No, just the ancient tapestries are in a part of the palace I've never been." He smiled at his friend. "So, what's so urgent you called for me?"

"Well, we received a shipment of trade and mail from Amestris..." He pulled a brown envelope from his long sleeve. "And this came addressed to you." He handed the unopened letter to Alphonse. The name EDWARD ELRIC clearly visible in the return address. "I wanted to know how my dear friend Edward and his lovely wife were doing."

"I do appreciate you NOT intercepting my mail and letting me at least read it first- you have every right to as this is your country and all…" Al half-teased the Emperor and Ling rolled his almond-shaped eyes. Alphonse was fully aware he, Lan Fan and May were the only people Ling allowed this from. The Alchemist broke the seal on the envelope. "But please give me a minute." He walked away from them and read silently.

" _Hey little brother!_

_I know it's been a long time since I wrote, but you know me and my ineptitude for keeping in touch. Anyway, the last we spoke, I'd taken that information you gave me and decided to go to the library at South Headquarters. Boy, Mustang's a pussy for letting me still have access to the military collections, but I'm still glad!_

_Well, about that. I'm going to have to postpone the trip, I hope you don't mind. You see, Winry and I are having ..."_

Alphonse noticed smudge spots here, as if Edward had written a sentence then erased it.

"… _marital problems."_

The younger Elric sighed. He read on.

" _I'd_   _rather tell you everything in person, it sort of hurts to write it out. We've decided we need some help, so Teacher and Mr. Sig are taking us in for a little while. If there's anyone who have a great marriage, it's them because they've been married for, what, a hundred years?_

_Al, I did something really stupid, well, more stupid than usual. Don't worry, I didn't cheat on her or anything. But it was really bad. Winry did get me back though, she fed me under cooked eggs and buttermilk for breakfast the morning after the worst drinking binge of my life._

_So, after a long talk and with Pinako's blessing, we boarded a train to Dublith. We've been here a week and so far it's been like a nice vacation. By nice, I mean, there's been a lot of SEX! Oh, sorry, your balls haven't dropped yet, so you wouldn't know!"_

Al could hear Edward taunting him. He'd definitely have to edit this out of what he told Ling.

" _Teacher made us sleep in separate rooms. Maybe this is part of her goofy "marriage" training, but whatever it was for, it only made it more fun to sneak around. He, he, he."_

He actually wrote out his laugh. Alphonse remembered shortly after Ed and Winry got married and had inevitably indulged in _marital relations_ , he thought he'd never hear the end of it from his brother. It was like Edward was the first person to ever have sex in the history of the world and he'd secretly blab it all to Al, regardless of whether or not Al wanted to hear. Alphonse was sure WINRY didn't want him to hear about their love life, but his brother was a nut and couldn't help himself.

" _Winry and I thought our problems were fixed. I mean, we were "doing it" like three times a day. Sorry, I don't mean to brag, but WE WERE DOING IT THREE TIMES A FUCKING DAY!"_

" _We told Teacher we'd never been so relaxed and happy, we think we were ready to go together to South Headquarters, then stay in Rush Valley for a while. Izumi has other plans. She said she wanted us to feel this way, but that sex did not equal a good marriage. SHE KNEW! Yuck!"_

" _So, here's the deal. Teacher is sending me and Winry to Yock Island. Yock Fucking Island. For a month. Alone. I'm so ready, Brother. This is going to be a peace of cake. If you and I could do it when we were little, I_ **can** _take care of Winry for a month. Easy."_

"Oh Brother." He mumbled quietly. Al knew that Winry didn't need anyone to take care of her. He also knew that Teacher probably saw Edward's error and was wise enough to keep them in Dublith.

" _The next time I write, we'll probably be in Rush Valley, little brother. Don't be worried, I'll try to call you when we are done. If you want to send letters, send them to Teacher's address and we'll get them when this is over._

_Take care, little brother!_

_Edward Elric"_

"So?" Alphonse jumped as Ling touched his shoulder, trying to peak at the letter. "How's Edward?"

"He's in trouble, as usual..."Al crumpled up the letter and shoved it into his pocket as Ling groaned for not getting to read it. "Hey, I'm hungry." Alphonse knew how to turn the Emperor's attention from his brother to something else he'd enjoy. "Do you have any food in this palace, or what?"

"Food?" Ling lit up and smiled.

* * *

 

"I really appreciate you having us in your home, Mrs. Curtis." Winry sipped her tea as she and the housewife alchemist sat at the kitchen table. They had just arose on this fine morning and decided to share breakfast together before the days work began. She gazed out the open window at the beautiful blue sky. Dublith was a wonderful town, full of shops and restaurants. Curtis Meats kept very busy supplying both businesses and private citizens alike with beef, chicken, pork and lamb. Helping Izumi work the register while Sig, Ed and Mason did the heavy lifting and such was a great break from working on automail. Still, she thought it was time to return to Resembool.

Another issue pressed firmly on the young woman's mind. Something she hadn't mentioned yet to Ed or their hosts. Winry thought she was pregnant. And, if she wasn't yet with child, should she stay here with Ed any longer she felt she'd end up that way. A silly smile spread across her rosy lips as she replayed some of their nocturnal antics in her mind.

"Please, call me Izumi...I'm not Edward's teacher anymore, you don't have to keep the honorifics." Izumi eyed the young blonde woman and wondered how this girl put up with her numb-skull ex-pupil.

"Teacher!" Edward, clad only in shorts and wearing a towel around his neck, burst into the room, interrupting the calm morning. "I finally did it!" He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel.

"Ed, stop calling me Teacher!" She scowled hard enough to break his bones and his eyes grew large as saucers as he realized his error.

"S,s,sorry." Ed stammered then continued. "I actually got a hit on Sig during training!"

"Ed!" Winry chastised him.

"Don't fret Winry, my husband has beaten Edward for years, this is really an accomplishment!" She then muttered under her breath, "Or Sig's getting old..."

"Izumi." The enormous man entered the room sporting a red splotch above his right eye. "Ed got me fair and square." Sig smiled and smacked the young man's back hard enough to make him cough. "I'm proud of you Edward."

"I bet I could take on Al!"

"Don't get too cocky, Ed." Winry snorted. "You've never beat him yet, even the first time you guys fought after his recovery." She narrowed her eyes.

"How do you know I didn't throw that fight?"

"Hard to throw a fight when you're knocked out cold." She got up and went to the freezer to get ice for Sig's brow. She took out a chunk of ice with the ice pick and wrapped it in a dishtowel. "Izumi. This has really been a nice break for Ed and I...staying and helping you guys out with the shop..." Winry handed the improvised ice pack to Sig who took it and winked. "But, I think it's time we got back home. I don't want to burden you any more."

"Oh, you're no burden." Teacher sipped her tea. "And, you've not finished your training here."

"Training?" Both Winry and Ed said in unison.

"What do you mean?" Edward didn't understand what more he and Winry could learn.

"You two morons arrived a little early, I couldn't get the island to ourselves until now." Izumi began spreading jam on a piece of toast, like this sort of conversation went on all the time. "They had a scout troop camping there this past week. But, now, you have it all to yourselves."

"T.t.t. ?" Ed couldn't believe what she hinted. "Yock Island?"

"Of course, idiot!" She growled at him calling her Teacher again. "I think it's time the both of you learn to stop taking the other for granted and the best way to do that is to learn to take care of each other, on your own." She took a bit of her homemade preserves and savored the sweet flavor of the berries.

"Izumi...I don't understand." Winry retook her place at the table. "I know very little about alchemy – I thought that spending time roughing it on that island was to train your body and mind for that?"

"Pftt!" The older woman snorted and continued to eat her breakfast. "I assume Edward and Alphonse told you about their month there and their riddle?"

"Yeah, Tea...Izumi." Ed pulled up a chair. "We did."

"Then you obviously didn't take it to heart." She slammed down her hand and stared hard at the young couple as their eyes widened in fear. "Morons. Do you think, 'All is One, One is All,' only applies to the understanding of alchemy?" She looked up at her husband. "Oh, hon, I've failed them..."

"Izumi..." Sig pleaded with one word asking her to hear the kids out.

"What do we have to do?" Winry stood up so suddenly, her chair fell to the floor. "...I want to do whatever I can to make this marriage work!" Her hard stare fell on her husband.

"Winry...you don't know what you're up against..." Ed shook, very much in fear of the two angry woman looming over him.

"I don't care. I will do what we need to do." She looked at Izumi. "What do we need to do?"

"Sit!" The housewife slammed her hand down on the table once more and the mechanic quickly picked up her chair and plopped her butt down. "You will spend a month on that island, just like Edward and Alphonse did. On the thirtieth day, Sig and I will retrieve you." She took a sip of her coffee.

"Is that all?" Ed seemed confident.

"No. Along with surviving for a month, you will have your own riddle."

"What is it, we can figure it out!" Winry was anxious to start.

"Pack your things, you need comfortable clothes and shoes. Ed knows the drill." She smiled widely. "I'll tell you the rest when we get there."

"Izumi?" Winry was almost afraid to ask. "When are we going?"

The alchemist smiled and finished off her toast. "As soon as I'm done with my breakfast!" She munched some more. "Well, don't just stand there...go!" This sent the young couple flying to their rooms to prepare. When they were out of sight, Sig sat down across from his wife.

"Want me to ditch their luggage before or after we get to the island?" He picked up a piece of toast and began buttering it.

"When you get there. Don't let those idiots take any comforts with them. They need to be able to survive AND comfort themselves." She drank the last of her tea. "And, send Mason to keep tabs on them, but not to interfere. He won't be able to scare two adults as he did children. Ed's liable to hurt him, now anyway."

"Will do." The large man replied. He knew Ed's fighting skills improved since he was a scrawny kid, the red bump over his eye was proof.

The couple finished their breakfast in peace and ready to start the glorious day.


	3. Riddle Me This

**I know that you're scared  
I know you've gone without  
But the ** _ **trial**_ **is what life has always been about**  
…..When all is Said and Done by Dirt Poor Robins.

 

Izumi watched the young couple intensely as her burly husband and Mason rowed the small boat through the gentle lake water. Winry and Edward sat next to each other – Ed with his perpetual scowl and Winry slightly jittery, her knee bobbing up and down with anticipation. Her former pupil knew the drill and Ed didn't bother packing anything. He wore a pair of olive cargo pants, white tee shirt and a loose, blue button up shirt. Despite the rush, the young man took the time to tightly plait his golden hair – a style the housewife hadn't seen him wear in a few years.

Winry on the other hand, she had packed a weekend bag to bursting. This, no doubt would earn Edward a fight for not warning her she'd not get to keep it. The mechanic wore denim capri pants over top of a black two-piece swim suit. She also wore a white button up shirt she had left unbuttoned and tied at her small waist. The girl had the foresight of thought to bring a wide-brimmed straw hat as well, the item effectively shading her lovely face from the mid-morning sun.

The boat sliced through the calm water as Yock Island came closer and closer creating a looming dread for two of the boat's youngest occupants. Sig shot his wife a knowing stare, asking silently if she really thought this trial necessary. Izumi grinned her answer. Before long, they all felt the slow stop of wood carving through the lake mud as they reached their destination.

"All right, kids..." The master expertly maneuvered herself off the water craft and onto shore and barely wetting the soles of her sandals in the process. She watched with arms crossed as the rest save for Mason exited. "Here's your home for the next thirty days."

"We can do this, Izumi!" Winry chanted, very optimistic until she reached for her luggage.

"No, you are here on your own." Teacher waved her arm in front of the stunned mechanic not allowing her back on the boat.

"But?"

"On your own." Izumi replied and Winry shot an angry stare at her husband who rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Edward!"

"Yeah. That's how it will go, Win." He pleaded with her angry eyes to no avail.

"Here." Sig gently placed a sheathed survival knife into the girl's hands. Winry took it with no reluctance.

"A knife...Ed, all we have is a knife?"

"...and each other." Izumi reminded them as she and Sig went back to the boat and helped Mason drag it off the sand. This time, Teacher's feet trudged through the water, the liquid soaking her pant legs.

"Teacher...uh, Izumi." Ed spoke with trepidation. "What is, um, our riddle?" He spoke slowly as if he really didn't want to know.

"Oh." The Master turned from the boat and faced the young married couple. "Geez, I forgot." She smiled then began to rub her chin in thought. She covered the side of her mouth and whispered to Sig and Mason, "I forgot to make something up...you got anything?" Both men shrugged their shoulders leaving the woman to ponder there in the water. She took a deep breath and the light bulb of an idea came to her as she gazed hard upon two sets of hopeful young eyes. "Ok, twerps." Her voice grew hard and forceful.

"Listen up you worms! This is what's going to save your marriage and keep you two from ruining what you've built your whole lives up to now..." She took a deep breath and shouted. "What's the only gift that costs so very much but is still free!" She turned and hopped into the boat as Mason and Sig pushed it to deeper water and joined her. "One month!" Izumi waved without turning as her husband winked to the two clueless youths standing on shore with wide eyes.

"Ed, it's too easy." Winry turned to him. "I already know the answer."

"Winry, it took Al and me the whole month and almost starving to figure out our riddle." His eyes narrowed and the image of his ten-year old self sprawled out on a leaf mat and eating ants came back into his mind.

"I don't care if you two were too stupid to realize it sooner, but I know!"

"Stupid?" Ed's eye twitched and anger started to well up in his belly. But it was almost lunch time so it could also be hunger.

"Think about it. Paninya received it. The most expensive gift from Mr. Dominic. And, it was free."

"You are warped. Do you know that? You've been out of your workshop too long and your brain is fizzled, woman..."

"Edward!" Winry clenched her teeth, prepared to have it out with the young man before her.

"The answer to the riddle is not AUTOMAIL, you grease monkey!" Ed turned and stomped off, leaving his wife fuming on the beach.

* * *

"Alphonse?" The diminutive Xingese girl tried to catch her breath, her black hair slicked back with perspiration. She offered a small hand to the young man, a gesture to help him up off the ground after she just handed him his ass. Mei Chang was a martial arts expert, after all. "Are you harmed?" She jumped ever so slightly as his warm hand grasped her own firmly and she pulled hard until the blond stood.

"Just my pride." Face covered in dirt, scratches and bruises and Alphonse Elric still smiled a mile-wide grin that only his older brother's could overshadow. Scratching the back of his neck, he realized Mei succeeded in something Edward never could – beat him. "Hey, don't mention this to Edward, ok?" He muttered sheepishly. The truth of the matter was, this small girl took him down in ten seconds flat and Edward never got a hit on him in all the years they sparred together. Al knew that would be a blow to his older brother's ego and something he didn't want to fuel Edward's and Mei's hostility toward each other.

"Of course!" She responded cheerfully, thinking the young Amestrian was scared his older brother would tease him for being beaten in a sparing match...by a girl. She would protect her blond friend's masculinity.

"I appreciate that." He realized that they were still holding hands and both blushed and released their grip fast, embarrassed. Despite just losing the fight, Alphonse couldn't take his golden eyes off the girl before him. She changed so much in the two years he lived in Xing. Still tiny in comparison to his now looming height, she no longer looked like the little girl that struggled to save her clan and almost gave up everything for Amestris during their battle on the Promised Day. She looked like a young lady. Mei bashfully averted his gaze. Al's hand tingled from their touch and he felt a strange tug in his chest. The young man became painfully aware he was staring at her.

"Um, I think you need to rest and drink some water." Mei suddenly became conscious of Al's strange breathing as a blush spread across his cheeks. She wondered if it was from their fight minutes earlier, but knew they had stopped long enough for his body to revert back to rest.

"Um...yeah." Was all he could force his lips to utter.

* * *

"First thing's first." Winry began. "We need to build a shelter, then make a fire and find drinking water." She extended a finger for each item.

"Oi! Been here and done it before." Ed sat on a stump and surveyed the small clearing just up from the beach.

"Ok, then, what do you propose?" The mechanic stood, hands on her hips in front of her husband.

"Um...shelter...fire...what you said." He relented.

Grrrrrrrowwwwwl! A monstrous rumble escaped the former alchemist's stomach.

"Ed?"

"Yeah, I missed breakfast." He sighed remembering Izumi telling them to get ready to leave interrupted his bee-line for food after sparring with Sig that morning.

"Well, then...you're going to really appreciate me." Winry sat on a large rock and pulled off her straw sun-hat. She smiled and showed her husband what she'd hidden inside.

"You're a sneaky woman." Edward grinned as he peered inside the upside down hat.

"I had it in my room." The young woman pulled out a tea cloth-wrapped bundle and slowly untied the knot to reveal two peanut butter sandwiches. She handed one to her husband. He smiled a thanks and took it eagerly. "I'm not hungry...will save half of mine, if you want it." Winry expertly tore hers in half and set the remainder down on the tea cloth covering her lap.

"You are the best!" Ed praised her as he started to tear into the sandwich.

"Praise me more!"

"Don't worry, I'm sure I will. You have knack for surprising me." He licked the last bit of peanut butter off his thumb. Ed eyed the half sandwich on Winry's lap and she picked up the bundle to offer it. "No. Let's save it, just in case." She wrapped it tightly back in the cloth and put it back inside her hat.

"Alright. Let's build the shelter." She stood and surveyed their building materials. To their left was small outcropping of bamboo and everywhere in the forest there were leaves and branches to be harvested. "We'll need some of those bamboo to make planks, some of those reeds to make some twine..." She began to rattle off materials in the same manner Edward used to rattle off elements.

"I'll get the bamboo." Ed decided to let the mechanical engineer design the shelter. He figured if she could design and create something as complicated as an automail arm and leg she'd knock out a small shack easy peasy.

Fortunately for Edward, Winry did just that – with his grunt work, she constructed a shelter that put his and Alphonse's pitiful lean-to to shame. The evening sun hung low in the sky as the two stood before the A-frame raised shack to admire their handiwork.

"I don't think it will rain tonight, so I'll work on thatching and installing the roof tomorrow." Winry took off her hat and placed it inside the shelter. "It will be nice to sleep looking up at the stars, don't you think?"

"Yeah, nice." Ed's mind lingered on his empty stomach. "Win, can you give me the knife? I need to find us some dinner."

"Ah, sure." She unclasped the hunting knife from her belt and handing it to Ed, sheath and all.

"You won't have any problems eating something cute and furry will ya?" He chided.

"Of course not." Winry huffed. "As long as you dispatch it quickly...ok?"

"I will." He latched the knife to his belt. "I'll need that sandwich, to use as bait...gonna set some traps too." She didn't question but handed Edward the bundle containing the half peanut butter sandwich. "Do you know how to make a fire?"

"Please." Winry laughed and pulled out her hat again. Tucked safely inside the band she plucked out a slim "Curtis Meats." matchbook. The girl grinned evilly.

"How much stuff did you hide in there?"

"You bring back something yummy and I'll show you." She smiled again and waved as her husband shrugged and disappeared into the forest. A sudden wave of nausea made her exhale hard, then she started feeling hot and sweaty. No longer able to control it, the young woman shot from her seat on the raised shelter bed and scampered around their camp until she found a place to evacuate her stomach contents. "Uh, oh." She uttered out loud and went to task to bury the foul vomit beneath some dirt. However, the smell remained. Winry hoped that Ed wouldn't venture to this side of the shelter for a while.

* * *

The sun dipped just below the mountains on the horizon and the dwindling orange light danced upon the border of blue and gray clouds of night. The mechanic gazed upon the sky beyond the clouds seeing the first stars of nightfall twinkling upon her eyes. She had kept herself busy by weaving together long stems of grass into both thick mats for their bedding and thinner ones for blankets. After tying off the ends of the "blanket" grass, she rolled them up and sat on the edge of the raised shelter beating the two rolls against the side to soften them up as best she could. She succeeded in making a whole lot of noise in this effort and didn't hear the sounds of twigs snapping and foliage moving with the approach of someone or something from the forest.

"Dinner time!" Ed popped into Winry's line of sight, startling her into throwing the blanket rolls at his face.

"Good Lord!" The girl panted. "You shouldn't sneak up on a person like that!" She marched up and grabbed their blankets off the ground.

"Well, what a way to greet your husband," Ed pouted. "I've brought food!" He proudly thrust a skinned and gutted rabbit carcass at her face.

"What is that?" Winry couldn't figure out what her husband had killed but its skinned corpse still had a head and  _eyes_. "Is that a  _rat_?" She felt her gut churning again.

"No, no, no." He handed the young woman the reed string tied round the creature's leg and she held it far from her body. "Rabbit." Ed smiled his cheeky grin and set about shoring up the campfire in front of their shelter.

Moment's later, the two were sitting before a nice roaring fire with rabbit-kabobs roasting merrily on sticks around the radiant heat of the flames. The young man tinkered with a few of the meat sticks until finding one that appeared the most done. He pulled a hunk of rabbit from the stick and chewed it happily before handing it to his wife.

"This one is great!" Edward winked at Winry as she took the food. "I think I've perfected roasting rabbit." He grabbed another and plopped down next to the girl and he began munching contently.

"You've eaten this before?" Winry took a small bite and began chewing, noticing the game-y taste of the meat.

"Yeah..." Ed mumbled in between bites and grabbed another stick. "Me an' Al camped a lot...and there's that whole time I spent on the run with Greedling and the chimeras..." He eyed his wife to see if she was enjoying her dinner. Her face held a teeny bit of revulsion. "What? Tastes bad or something?"

"No." Winry didn't care for the rabbit, but knew it was their only meal for the evening and they needed to eat. "It's just ok." She hoped Ed didn't think she was spoiled and she expected him to scold her.

"Win..." Edward saw the insecurity in her face and although his first instinct was to tease his wife, he opted otherwise. "I didn't much care for rabbit the first time Al and I killed one." He remembered after the fox stole their first meal on the island, they quickly learned to dispatch a second, skin it terribly and roast it even worse. Still, it was the first real meal they boys had and it made the pain in their bellies cease.

"I can't imagine Al killing anything." She took another bite and made herself chew then swallow it.

"Well, I killed the first one...I think we both got sick over it. But in order to eat, we had to hunt." Noticing Winry finished off her first kabob, he grabbed her another. She took it and smiled. "That was one of the ways we figured out Teacher's riddle...the rabbit ate grass that grew from the soil. We ate the rabbits and they went into fueling our bodies, a cycle of life..."

"Cycle of life..." Winry set her hand on her tummy as she ate, finally finishing three helpings.

"Well, I'm beat." Ed stretched, yawned and slowly stood up. "Bed?" He extended his right hand to his wife, who took it and was hoisted up to standing in one swift, strong move.

"Me too." Winry did not miss the extra sparkle in her husband's eyes when he spoke the word  _bed_  and his intent became crystal clear the moment they made themselves comfortable on the woven grass mats in the shelter.

"Win?" Edward stroked her hair behind her ear and held her face. He leaned closer and took her lips in a warm kiss. The ex-alchemist felt his wife relax under his touch before he withdrew. "...so..."

"Alright, Edward." She smiled when she saw his grin spread wide as she uttered permission and soon she felt him slowly undoing the buttons of her shirt.


End file.
